U.N. Holds Conference on Small Arms
News/Current Events Breaking News News Keywords: GLOBAL GUN CONTROL & SOVEREIGN RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE.
Source: NewsDay.com
Published: 07-07-01 1151EDT Author: EDITH M. LEDERER
Posted on 07/07/2001 09:57:11 PDT by FirstFreedom
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations is holding its first international conference on the illegal trade of small arms, used in 90 percent of the world's conflicts and the biggest global killer apart from AIDS.
But getting the 189 U.N. member states to agree on ways to fight and ultimately eradicate trafficking in pistols, assault rifles, machine guns and other light weapons is going to be tough, if not impossible, diplomats and arms experts say.
The problem is that many countries -- whether major powers, war-ravaged nations, buyers or suppliers of arms -- have different ideas on how the illegal trade should be tackled.
As a result, the program of action to be adopted at the end of the two-week conference that starts Monday is unlikely to include any of the tough measures in the latest draft.
[Among the most hotly debated proposals are calls for governments to pass laws to control the legal manufacture, transfer, and possession of small arms and to agree to standardized export criteria.]
[Measures that would require manufacturers to mark all weapons so they can be identified and traced and to supply small arms and light weapons only to governments are also likely to come under fire.]
[And, a proposal ''to seriously consider'' prohibiting trade and private ownership of small arms designed for military use is vehemently opposed by gun rights activists in the United States and will likely be rejected by the U.S. delegation.]
''I think that perhaps the document is not going to be as strong as we would have liked, but it is a step in the right direction,'' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. ''It is a recognition by the international community that we need to do something about these weapons.''
Many diplomats, U.N. officials, and anti-gun activists agree that at a minimum, the conference will spotlight the proliferation of these cheap, easily transportable weapons.
''When you look at the history of the last 20 years or so, most of the killing in the world, apart from the AIDS epidemic, is being done by small arms,'' Annan said. ''I hope we can get the manufacturers and governments to work with us in controlling the flow of these illicit arms.''
According to U.N. estimates, between 40 and 60 percent of the more than 500 million small arms and light weapons in the world are illegal. They were the weapons of choice in 46 of the 49 major conflicts fought during the 1990s -- conflicts in which 4 million people died, 90 percent of them civilian, and the vast majority women and children.
But arms are also a major money-spinner, an important consideration for many governments.
The legal arms trade is one of the biggest global businesses, conservatively valued at more than ฤ billion annually. Arms trafficking is the second largest illicit business after drugs.
As for small arms, the legal trade is estimated at Ŭ-6 billion annually and the illegal trade at about ũ billion, according to the U.N. Development Program.
In the debate over curbing the illegal trade, arms experts say some countries want to ensure that their profits are not touched. [Others oppose interference in their sovereign right to self-defense.]
Representatives from more than 120 countries have signed up to speak at the U.N. conference, with Colombia's vice president and the foreign ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands, Iran and Ireland on Monday's schedule. John Bolton, the U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, is also scheduled to speak.
Supporters and opponents of gun control and human rights activists are among the 177 non-governmental organizations taking part.
[''We're going to be there standing for freedom,'' said Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association. ''They fully intend, as I see it, to put a global standard ahead of an individual country's freedom.'' Mary Leigh Blek, president of the U.S. Million Mom March which brought 750,000 (another lie) people to Washington last year to demonstrate against handguns, said she'll be at the United Nations, too.]
''These are instruments of death and their toll is too painful not to do anything to regulate the flow,'' said Bleck.
Human Rights Watch said its expectations for the conference are low because its scope is limited to illicit weapons.
[''If you do not control what happens to legally traded weapons, they slip into the black market,'' said Joost Hiltermann, executive director of Human Rights Watch's arms division.]
Bangladesh's U.N. Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, a member of the U.N. Security Council, admitted there are problems and stumbling blocks.
[''But I believe that this is a major initiative coming out of the U.N.,'' he said. ''Whatever we get out of this conference -- whatever minimum even -- would add on to the efforts that are being made globally to contain small arms.'']
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRT United Nations Protest Rally Saturday July 14th 12 noon to 4pm (or until we have had enough fun) Dag Hammarskjold Plaza E 47 St, 1 To 2 Aves. NY,NY
As the United Nations gather to attempt to enact there vision for an unarmed and enslaved world we will gather as Americans have always gathered to face a threat to her safety.
For many years the U.N has been working to disassemble the soul of every free nation, Sovereignty.
Now they assemble to remove the one thing, which we as Americans posess, which guarantees our Liberty, our Second Amendment our civil right.
As of right now we are still awaiting our rally permit from the NYC Parks Dept.
With out this permit the TRT will STILL hold a demonstration but obviously without the format listed below. In this event it will have to be an old fashioned roll up your sleeves and grab your bullhorn kind of day.
Live musical entertainment will be graciously provided by Poker Face !
Speakers as of this moment will include.
Tom Chandler and Phil Longden TRT-NY
Bob Glass TRT President and Robert Teesdale National Director TRT-CO
Louis Wein New York State Constitution Party
Rick Mase TRT-PA and Father of a Gun control victim
A few others are pending.
Signs should not only contain our RKBA rights but all our rights, which the U.N holds in contempt.
Flags should include Old Glory/Betsy Ross, POW/MIA, Gadsen and Culpepper!
A few good Patriots from the NY Capital District are organizing a bus with possible stops if the interest is there along the NYS Thruway. If interested please email us at [email protected]
Also keep an eye on FreeRepublic.com for other bus rides being organized.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Thomas Jefferson
News/Current Events Breaking News News Keywords: GLOBAL GUN CONTROL & SOVEREIGN RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE.
Source: NewsDay.com
Published: 07-07-01 1151EDT Author: EDITH M. LEDERER
Posted on 07/07/2001 09:57:11 PDT by FirstFreedom
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations is holding its first international conference on the illegal trade of small arms, used in 90 percent of the world's conflicts and the biggest global killer apart from AIDS.
But getting the 189 U.N. member states to agree on ways to fight and ultimately eradicate trafficking in pistols, assault rifles, machine guns and other light weapons is going to be tough, if not impossible, diplomats and arms experts say.
The problem is that many countries -- whether major powers, war-ravaged nations, buyers or suppliers of arms -- have different ideas on how the illegal trade should be tackled.
As a result, the program of action to be adopted at the end of the two-week conference that starts Monday is unlikely to include any of the tough measures in the latest draft.
[Among the most hotly debated proposals are calls for governments to pass laws to control the legal manufacture, transfer, and possession of small arms and to agree to standardized export criteria.]
[Measures that would require manufacturers to mark all weapons so they can be identified and traced and to supply small arms and light weapons only to governments are also likely to come under fire.]
[And, a proposal ''to seriously consider'' prohibiting trade and private ownership of small arms designed for military use is vehemently opposed by gun rights activists in the United States and will likely be rejected by the U.S. delegation.]
''I think that perhaps the document is not going to be as strong as we would have liked, but it is a step in the right direction,'' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. ''It is a recognition by the international community that we need to do something about these weapons.''
Many diplomats, U.N. officials, and anti-gun activists agree that at a minimum, the conference will spotlight the proliferation of these cheap, easily transportable weapons.
''When you look at the history of the last 20 years or so, most of the killing in the world, apart from the AIDS epidemic, is being done by small arms,'' Annan said. ''I hope we can get the manufacturers and governments to work with us in controlling the flow of these illicit arms.''
According to U.N. estimates, between 40 and 60 percent of the more than 500 million small arms and light weapons in the world are illegal. They were the weapons of choice in 46 of the 49 major conflicts fought during the 1990s -- conflicts in which 4 million people died, 90 percent of them civilian, and the vast majority women and children.
But arms are also a major money-spinner, an important consideration for many governments.
The legal arms trade is one of the biggest global businesses, conservatively valued at more than ฤ billion annually. Arms trafficking is the second largest illicit business after drugs.
As for small arms, the legal trade is estimated at Ŭ-6 billion annually and the illegal trade at about ũ billion, according to the U.N. Development Program.
In the debate over curbing the illegal trade, arms experts say some countries want to ensure that their profits are not touched. [Others oppose interference in their sovereign right to self-defense.]
Representatives from more than 120 countries have signed up to speak at the U.N. conference, with Colombia's vice president and the foreign ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands, Iran and Ireland on Monday's schedule. John Bolton, the U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, is also scheduled to speak.
Supporters and opponents of gun control and human rights activists are among the 177 non-governmental organizations taking part.
[''We're going to be there standing for freedom,'' said Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association. ''They fully intend, as I see it, to put a global standard ahead of an individual country's freedom.'' Mary Leigh Blek, president of the U.S. Million Mom March which brought 750,000 (another lie) people to Washington last year to demonstrate against handguns, said she'll be at the United Nations, too.]
''These are instruments of death and their toll is too painful not to do anything to regulate the flow,'' said Bleck.
Human Rights Watch said its expectations for the conference are low because its scope is limited to illicit weapons.
[''If you do not control what happens to legally traded weapons, they slip into the black market,'' said Joost Hiltermann, executive director of Human Rights Watch's arms division.]
Bangladesh's U.N. Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, a member of the U.N. Security Council, admitted there are problems and stumbling blocks.
[''But I believe that this is a major initiative coming out of the U.N.,'' he said. ''Whatever we get out of this conference -- whatever minimum even -- would add on to the efforts that are being made globally to contain small arms.'']
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRT United Nations Protest Rally Saturday July 14th 12 noon to 4pm (or until we have had enough fun) Dag Hammarskjold Plaza E 47 St, 1 To 2 Aves. NY,NY
As the United Nations gather to attempt to enact there vision for an unarmed and enslaved world we will gather as Americans have always gathered to face a threat to her safety.
For many years the U.N has been working to disassemble the soul of every free nation, Sovereignty.
Now they assemble to remove the one thing, which we as Americans posess, which guarantees our Liberty, our Second Amendment our civil right.
As of right now we are still awaiting our rally permit from the NYC Parks Dept.
With out this permit the TRT will STILL hold a demonstration but obviously without the format listed below. In this event it will have to be an old fashioned roll up your sleeves and grab your bullhorn kind of day.
Live musical entertainment will be graciously provided by Poker Face !
Speakers as of this moment will include.
Tom Chandler and Phil Longden TRT-NY
Bob Glass TRT President and Robert Teesdale National Director TRT-CO
Louis Wein New York State Constitution Party
Rick Mase TRT-PA and Father of a Gun control victim
A few others are pending.
Signs should not only contain our RKBA rights but all our rights, which the U.N holds in contempt.
Flags should include Old Glory/Betsy Ross, POW/MIA, Gadsen and Culpepper!
A few good Patriots from the NY Capital District are organizing a bus with possible stops if the interest is there along the NYS Thruway. If interested please email us at [email protected]
Also keep an eye on FreeRepublic.com for other bus rides being organized.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Thomas Jefferson